


For Science

by Issylang



Series: Jily Challenge Fics [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: And then she deals with the consequences, F/M, Lily kisses James, Marauders, Seventh year, jily
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2018-09-03 10:36:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8709052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Issylang/pseuds/Issylang
Summary: November Prompt: Lily gets the sudden urge to kiss James, kisses him, and then promptly freaks out





	

Here’s the thing: Lily didn’t ever intend to kiss James Potter. Really. She  _ intended _ to get the white piece of fuzz out of his hair, and then leave it at that. And she only intended to do that because it had been there the entire hour they’d been working on heads’ duties and it was  _ bothering  _ her. But then their faces were so close and his lips looked very, very soft and Lily got curious and decided that she had to test her theory (for  _ science _ ), so she leaned in and…

And then she ran away, because after six years of non-stop bickering and claims of  _ he’s like my annoying brother, piss off, _ and  _ I’d rather kiss the giant squid _ , she wasn’t ready to face the fact that those claims might be a little less than true. 

(She could admit that his lips were soft, though. And he tasted like vanilla and peppermint and just… good.)

So that was how she found herself tucked away in some random Hogwarts alcove, trying to steady her breathing enough to pretend like the kiss had never happened. 

The only issue was that it  _ had  _ happened, and that she was slowly realizing that she wouldn’t object too terribly much if it were to somehow happen again.

Except Lily, reluctant as she was to admit it, was a very proud person, and she didn’t think her self-esteem could handle being judged as a hypocrite by the entire Hogwarts population. (Okay, so it probably wouldn’t be the entire Hogwarts population, but Lily had an overactive imagination, and she was only going to solve one problem at a time.) She also didn’t like to be wrong, and wasn’t really a big fan of admitting that Mary might have been onto something when she said that Lily most certainly liked James in a way that was not  _ like a brother.  _ (That phrase was probably more suited for Sirius, and Remus, and even Pete). 

That was where James found her, fifteen minutes after the Event (capitalization fucking earned, thank you very much), with a dazed sort of look on his face. 

“Lily! There you are.” 

Relief flooded his eyes at first, but Lily watched as he curled in on himself in awkwardness, one hand tightly gripping his—no,  _ her  _ bag strap, the other embedded in his hair, which looked even more like a hurricane than usual. 

(Lily liked his hair, really. It was soft and smelled good and she just really enjoyed running her fingers through it. But she did that to Remus, too, so it  _ obviously  _ didn’t mean anything.)

“You, um, you left your—your bag, earlier, so I figured I’d—well, I figured I’d bring it to you. I finished up the schedules, too, so, um, you’re free for the rest of the day.” 

He thrusted his left hand out in front of him, his knuckles turned white from gripping her bag strap so hard. His head was ducked down, his gaze focused on his untied shoes as they scuffed the floor.

He looked rough, like the world had fallen apart around him all within the last fifteen minutes. 

_ It’s your fault, you know. He’s under enough stress as it is, and then you went and threw  _ this  _ at him.  _ (There was also a small part of her mind reminding her that she definitely looked worse, but that was not a priority in the current situation.)

“Thanks, Po—James.”

He sent her a shaky smile, and turned to head back to Gryffindor tower, nearly tripping over himself as he did so. (She’d never understand how someone so graceful on a broom could be such a klutz on the ground. He stumbled around like a baby deer half of the time.)

“James, wait!”

She didn’t know why she stopped him. She didn’t have anything prepared to say, and the moment his name was out she literally didn’t have any thoughts whatsoever. (What a time for her mind to go blank. It really needed to stop doing that, it caused her to do  _ very  _ stupid things.)

“Yeah?”

She looked up, expecting him to look hopeful, or annoyed, or  _ something _ like that, but he just looked tired, like keeping up on his feet was just far too much effort. It made her heart hurt, really, to see him so worn out, and she decided that her own inner turmoil could take a backseat for now.

“I think we need to talk,” she started, clearing her throat before continuing, “but I also think you need a nap, so go take one and come find me in the common room afterward. No—no exceptions. It’s a Sunday, so there’s no class. I know you finished your transfiguration essay, so don’t even use that excuse. You had Quidditch practice this morning, so you’re all done with that for the day. There is no reason for you to  _ not  _ take a nap, so go. We’ll talk later.”

He looked like he was going to argue for a few seconds, but instead he nodded and turned to head back to the tower, tripping over his own feet,  _ again. _ (He’s actually  _ Bambi,  _ she swears.)

***

Lily was working on her transfiguration paper (just because James had finished it ahead of time didn’t mean she did) at her favorite corner table in the common room when she heard someone pulling out the chair across from her. She looked up once she finished her sentence and found two hazel eyes staring back at her. 

“Hey, Lils. Sorry for earlier, I didn’t mean to weird you out.”

Her mouth had been open to apologize as well, but it snapped shut in shock the moment those words were out of James’ mouth. She had spent the past two hours stressing out over the perfect explanation and apology for coming on unprovoked, and then he had the  _ audacity  _ to walk up to her with a sheepish look on his face and apologize to  _ her,  _ for being  _ tired. _ As if the notion of James Potter needing a nap after all of the shit he has on his plate was  _ wrong  _ and something worth  _ apologizing for.  _

(She wasn’t  _ actually  _ going to apologize for kissing him, just doing it without consent. She had come to the realization during the two hours that, actually, she  _ did  _ like him that way, and that she was certainly open to kissing him again.)

“Hey now, none of that. There is no reason to apologize for needing a nap, James, especially with all of the things you have on your plate right now. We need to talk about  _ my  _ actions, not yours. I asked you to talk to me so  _ I  _ could say sorry for kissing you without express consent. On that subject, I’d like to inform you that I have spent the past two hours trying to find the words to tell you that it didn’t mean anything, and that I still didn’t like you like that, and that it was caused by a lapse in judgment. But I also realized that all of those things were lies, except maybe the last one, and that the truth is that I am willing to ignore that this ever happened if that is what you want, but  _ I  _ would personally like to do it again, if you are willing, that is.”

James had opened his mouth to interrupt Lily’s speech multiple times, but now that she was done, he seemed to be at a loss for words. (He looked a bit like a fish, honestly, and it was endearing in an odd sort of way.)

“Lily, why would—how could you think that I  _ wouldn’t  _ want to kiss you? Like, have you been living under a rock for the past few years?”

Now it was Lily’s turn to be speechless. (Although, she hoped she didn’t look like a fish. She didn’t think it would be too endearing on her.)

See, she knew that James  _ had  _ liked her, but she thought that after everything, he really did want to be just friends. It was a ridiculous idea, really, and she knew that  _ now,  _ but it was a still a shock nonetheless. 

She looked back at him again, and then decided that his comment was enough for her. 

She leaned over the small study table in between them and decided to test just how soft his lips were again. (It was for  _ science.  _ She didn’t remember much from primary school, but she did remember that you were supposed to repeat experiments for proper results, so that’s what she was doing.)

He moved his hand to her waist from where it had been buried in his hair again (which was  _ wrong,  _ really, because it should be Lily’s hands tangled in it) and was actually able to kiss her back this time. She suddenly understood why half of the girls in the school dreamed of doing just this. 

(It’s not like he  _ noticed,  _ oblivious as he was, but  _ she  _ did, as did all of their mates, and it finally clicked why it bothered her.)

When they pulled away to breathe, Lily decided two things. The first was that James Potter, who was a highly attractive person on a regular basis, was ten times more attractive when he was smiling without a care in the world. The second thing was that her results proved inconclusive, and that she was going to have to continue to kiss James Potter to prove if his lips were as soft as they looked. 

For  _ science _ .  

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my wonderful beta colormayfade on tumblr. Claire, you are actually a goddess. Another thank you to hmionegrangr on tumblr(my partner this month, what?!?!?!) for setting up this absolutely amazing project. Come talk to me on tumblr at lamelylimes!


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